Twelve color inkjet photographs documenting the Priscilla of Boston wedding gown firm, its employees, and the closing of the business; also a disc containing the images and a copy of the journal, "Historic New England", fall 2012.

Cite as

Justin H. Goodstein-Aue Color Photographs of Priscilla of Boston, 2011-2012, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of the artist

Includes accounts of several employees of George B. and Sanford L. Treadwell of Mittineagus, Massachusetts, two written as small pieces of paper sewn between covers of calfskin. One volume is for 1861, one for 1862, and the other for 1863-1865.

Cite as

Treadwell Account Books, 1861-1865, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Madeleine Wilkinson

A note to "Mr. Watkins" (probably Malcolm Watkins, SI curator) from the donor in the collection control file indicates that the lesson book is dated Jan. 10, 1803 and that it was "used in Westford before [Timothy Prescott] moved to Littleton and then Concord."

Summary

Lesson book text consists primarily of mathematical exercises, with a few pages devoted to penmanship. Also includes a partial page of the "Republican Gazetteer, Boston, Sept. 4, 1802, used as an end page.

Cite as

Timothy Prescott's Lesson Book, 1803, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Account book of an unidentified person, possibly living in Massachusetts or Rhode Island, includes entries regarding items purchased and sold, such as bricks and agricultural products, and a record of himself and other persons employed, including the rental of animal teams for ploughing.

Cite as

Agricultural and Brick Account Book, 1824-1846, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Elisha Murdock founded the E. Murdock & Company in 1834 in Winchendon, Massachusetts. This company manufactured wood wares (such as tubs and pails), 1831-1931. A Boston plant operated until 1882. In 1929, Murdock's company merged with Keene Woodworking Company in New Hampshire and the West Swanzey plant to form the New England Woodenware Corporation. In 1958 the company moved to New Hampshire temporarily. Today it produces boxes in Gardener, Massachusetts.

Summary

Correspondence from customers, catalogues, monthly statements and receipts; also price lists and miscellaneous items, such as bulletins, advertisements, and a census report.

The United Shoe Machinery Company was formed in 1899 by the consolidation of three shoe machinery firms in the industry: Goodyear Shoe Machinery Company; Consolidated McKay Lasting Machine Company; and McKay Shoe Machinery Company. The new company continued the practice previously followed by its constituent firms of renting machinery that it manufactured instead of selling it. After the 1899 merger, United grew quite rapidly. In 1903, it began construction of a new factory in Beverly, Massachusetts about thirty-five miles from Boston. At its peak, this company employed 9,000 workers and produced eighty-five percent of all shoemaking machines in the United States. By 1910, it had an eighty percent share of the shoe machinery market with assets reaching forty million dollars, and it had acquired control of branch companies in foreign countries. In 1917, the United Shoe Machinery Corporation, incorporated in 1905, absorbed the United Shoe Machinery Company. The United Shoe Machinery Corporation had its headquarters in Boston and its main manufacturing plant in Beverly, Massachusetts. In 1968, the United Shoe Machinery Corporation changed its name to USM Corporation. In 1976, United Shoe Machinery Company merged with Emhart Industries and produced the modern-day Emhart Corporation. In 1989, in order to resist a two billion dollar takeover attempt by a New York investment group (which included oil heir Gordon P. Getty), Emhart merged with Black & Decker Corporation. The merged company operates from Black & Decker's headquarters in Towson, Maryland. The company headquarters in Farmington, Connecticut, were closed in June 1989.

Summary

The records document in considerable detail the firm's engineering department and research and development efforts in shoe making machinery and in related technical areas, especially during World War II and as it attempted to diversify its activities after the war. There is detailed information, much of it on microfilm, about the leasing of USM machines. The records also provide insight into the USM's culture of corporate paternalism, including its athletic and relief associations and its industrial school. The collection is rich in visual materials depicting both the machines made by the firm and the employees and the facilities. The collection includes approximately 5,000 glass plate negatives (1909-1932) and 1.5 cu. ft. of safety negatives (1932-1960s) documenting different types and models of shoe-making machines produced by USMC. Other major records include a sampling of important research project files, such as the Baseball Stitching Machine Projects, 1949-1973, scrapbooks concerning advances in shoe-making technology by USMC, company catalogs, and other items.

Photographs: Include Turner Tanning Machinery Co. Photographs, 1926-1937 (8" x 10" photoprints, some in albums); and pictures taken in the Beverly factory.